Machinery for and method of manufacturing steel railway-rails



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J. REESE.

MAGHINERY FOR AND METHOD OF MANUFAGTURING STEEL RAILWAY RAILS. No. 276,712. Patented Ma; 1,1883.

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J; REESE.

MAVGHIIIEBY 303 AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING STEEL RAILWAY RAILS.

No. 276,712. A

Patented May 1; 1883.

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J.REE SE. MAGHINBRY FOR AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING STEEL RAILWAY R AILS.

Patented May 1, 1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB REESE, OF BITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINERY FOR AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING STEEL RAILWAY-RAILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 276,712, dated May 1, 1883. Application filed November 7, i882. (No model.)

A Ore; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accom anying drawin gs,'forming a part thereof.

In the manufacture of ingot iron and steel by the Bessemer process as at present practiced, the ores are ordinarily smelted in a blastfurnace, and the metal produced is run into pigs, which are allowed to cool, and they are then remelted in a cupolu. The molten iron is then blown with an airsblast in a converter I until the silicon and carbon are eliminated, or the silicon, carbon, and phosphorus are eliminated. The metal is then deoxidized, recarburized, and run into ingots. These ingots are taken while yet hot and put into a heatingfurnace, and after being therein heated foran hour or more they are taken to the bloomingmill and rolled into blooms of about seven inches square. These blooms are then sheared into sections of suitable weights and again charged into afurnace, and after being heated are withdrawn and rolled into rails. By this practice the oresare heated and smelted; second, the metal is reheated and melted; third, the ingot thus produced is reheated and blodmed; fourth, the bloomsare reheated and rolled into rails. As a result of such method of manufacturing rails and other merchantable Shapes of iron an d steel, the metal is reheated at least three times, and often more, and in such reheatiugs it deteriorates in quality from the absorption of deleterious matters from the fuel, wastes in quantity from oxidation and other causes, and consumes an inordinate and needless quantity of fuel.

The objectof this invention is the production of steel rails and like articles direct from the ore by a continuous process or succession of interdependent steps, and in such a manner that the fuel employed in smelting and. heating the metal shall be used exclusively in the blast-furnace or first stage of the process, thus saving the fuel employed heretofore in melting the metal and reheating the ingots and blooms.

The present invention therefore consistsin so combinin g the blast-furnace process with the converter process, and these with the steps of the several rolling and reducing processes for shaping the metal, that the waste products and by-products from the several steps shall supply the heat for carrying on the succeeding steps, thus displacing and dispensing with other fuel than that primarily employed; and, further, in such an arrangement of the working plant as shall facilitate the carrying out of said process, the limitation thereon being simply as to arrangement and not as to construction of apparatus employed, all as will herein- 7 after more fully appear.

In the practice of this invention the orcs of iron are placed in a blast-furnace, together with limestone and fuel, and smelted in the ordinary manner. W'hen a sufficient amount of metal has accumulated in the hearth it is tapped out and conveyed to and run into a Bessemer converter. The metal is then blown with an air-blast until the silicon and carbon or the siliconcarbon,and phosphorus are eliminated. The metal is then deoxidized, recarburized,and cast into ingots. Theingots are then taken from the molds and placed in an ini got-regenerator, or soaking-chamber, as itis sometimes termed. As soon as the ingots are placed in the regenerator the lids are put on and the vessel is closed, so as toexclude the air and prevent the heat from escaping. The regeneratorhaving been previously heated, the heat will pass from the hot walls of the regenerator into the outside of the ingots, and tend to raise their temperature, and as the inside of the ingots is in a molten state when it is taken from the mold and put into the regenerator, the molten center in solidifying will give 0% considerable heat, which will not only heat the outside of the ingots, but will also heat up the regenerator. After the ingots have been in the regenerator for thirty min utes, more or less, they will have acquired a uniform temperature and consistency throughout. The regenerator, if portable, may be run up to the blooming-mill} and the ingots withdrawn and rolled, care, being taken to close the regenerator immediately after taking an ingot out. When the ingot is rolled into a bloom, the last end should be trimmed and the entire bloom passed immediately forward into the rail-mill, where it may be roughed and rolled into a finished rail, and then sawed into three or four rail-lengths or, if it is preferred, the bloom, when made, may be sheared into three or four rail-lengths, and each length passed forward and rolled into single raillengths. In the latter case I prefer to have a double set of finishing-rolls, so that by making a four-rail ingot it may be rolled into a loom and cut into four rail-lengths, and these 1 taken as cut and rolled directly into rails, the

firstand. third bloom in one pair of rolls and the second and fourth blooms in the other pair of rolls. By this method the blooms may be taken and rolled as rapidly as they can be cut, and the ingot bloomed and rolled into four-rails without reheating.

One regenerator or soaking-chamber, which I propose to use as most suitable for securing a uniform and desirable temperature in the ingots before blooming is a continuous tube,

through which the ingots are pushed from the converting-house to the blooming-mill, and the other is a portable regenerator, which may be charged in the converting-house and transo ported by rail to the blooming-mill. In either case the ingots are placed in the regenerator in the converting house and taken out of it at the blooming-mill, and are thus protected from cooling while in transit.

In order to more fully explain the practice and advantages of my process of manufacturing iron and steel direct from the ore without the use of any other fuel than that employed in the blast-furnace, I shall describe a plant 40 suitable for the purpose, having a capacity of producing six hundred tons'of steel rails per day direct from the ore; but in doing so I do not limit this invention to the use of any special apparatus.

Figure l is a ground plan of a blast-furnace plant with four furnaces. Fig. 2 is a ground. plan of the convertinghouse, blooming and roughing mill. rail-finishing mill.

Figs. 1, 2, and 3, when joined together at the lines a; 00, is'a plan view ing from the hoist to the top of the furnace.

F is the boiler-house. Gr is the casting-house. H is the slag-car. I is the metal-car. Jis the metal-track, K is the slag-track. L is the stock-house, with railroad-tracks r s t u.

Fig. 2: a a a are the converters. b b are the ingot-pits, with the ingot-molds in place. 0 c are the ladle-cranes. d d are the ingot-cranes.

Fig. 3 is a ground plan of a.

e is theingot regenerator. f is the hopper through which the ingots are chargedinto the regenerator. g is the hydraulic ram for pushing the ingot through the regenerator. h h are blowing-engines for supplying blast to the blast-furnaces and the converters. track on which the molten metal is carried from the blast-furnace. Mi are rail-tracks running under the converters, for carrying away the slag and for carrying the ladles and coverter-bottoms into the repairing-house on track j. K is the railway, on which the slagcars are transported from the blastfurnace; M, the steam-boilers for generating steam by means of the waste heat of the blast-furnace slag. N is a store-house. O is the table on which theingotandmetalare moved toandfrom the rolls. 1? P are the steam pipes. Q are the engines for driving the blooming-mill. R is the blooming-rolls. S is the shears for trimming the bad end off the bloom. T are the engines for roughing. Uis the roughing-rolls. XX are the points where the Figs. 1,2, and 3 join each other.

Fig. 8: V is the foundry, and V is the machine-shop building. .Y are the engines for driving the rail-finishing rolls Z. 0 0 0 0 are saws driven by shaft 19. q are steam-boilers for generating steam by the heatradiated from the rails while cooling.

In the practice of this invention by the use of a plant such as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings, the iron ores, coke, and limestone are run into thestock-housesL by means of tracks r, s, t, and a. The stock is then filled into wheelbarrows and raised to the top of the furnace by means of the hoist D. It is wheeled from the hoist over the bridge E and put into the tunnel-head. Each of the furnaces is provided with three hot-blast stoves and a battery of steam-boilers. When the tire is lighted the blast is let on, and as the top of the furnace is closed with a ball and hopper the gases are forced into the regenerating hotblast stoves and under the steam-boilers. The

gas passes from the boilers into the stack 0.

The gas which passes through the regenerators heats up the brick-work of the stove and passes off into stack 0. When one of the regenerators has become hot the gas is excluded from it and caused to flow through the other two regenerators, and the cold air is forced through the hot regenerator and from thence through the tuyeres into the furnace. In about two hours the valves are reversed and the gas is caused to flow through the regenerator which the air had passed through, and the air made to pass through one of the hot regenerators. Thus two of the regenerators are being constantly heated by the waste gases while the air is being heated in passing through one of the hot regenerators. By this means the air may be heated to 1,500 Fahrenheit and the J is the temperature of the gases euterin g the stack 0 reduced to 500.

Whenthe furnaces are in good working order a sufficient amount of steam will be gene'rated from the waste gases. to run the blowing-engines h h h h h h h h (shown in Fig. 2) to supply sutficient blast to blow the four blastfurnaces and thethreeconvertersa a a. When the slag begins to flow from the blast-furnace it is caused to runinto a slag-car, H. As soon as one of these cars is filled at each furnace the four slagcars are taken by an engine and run into the steam-boiler M, the doors are closed, and fresh cars run up to the furnace. This hot slag will give off its heatand vaporize the water, and thus steam will be generated every two hours. Another batch of hot slag-cars are pushed into the boilers and the cooled cars are pushed out. By this arrangement of generating steam by means of the waste heat of blast-furnace slag I am able to produce sufficient steam for four thousand horse-power from a plant of this size. I

When the metal is ready for tapping ten tons of the molten iron is caused to flow into car I. The car is then run onto the scale J and weighed. The car is then taken up to the converters and the metal emptied into the converter. The converter is then turned up and the metal blown with an air-blast until the silicon and carbon are eliminated. verter is then turned down and the metal dc oxygenized and recarburized in the usual man ner. The metal is then poured into ingots,

and this operation continued by bringing another charge of metal from the blast-furnace; Immediatelyafter the metal has been cast into ingots the molds are removed and the ingots taken, one at a time, and dropped into theingot regenerator hopperf. Each time an ingot is dropped in it is pushed forward one length "shape.

ot'itself by means of the ram g. This is con tinued until the ingots appear at the other end of the regenerator. When the ingots are placed in the regenerator (which has been previously heated) the insides of theingots are in a molten state, and the ontsides are too cold for rolling; but by keeping the ingots in the hot re generator for from twenty to thirty minutes the outside becomes hotter and the center solidifies, and a uniform and desirable temperature for rolling is secured without the use of fuel for reheating. When the ingots are thus prepared for rolling, an ingot is dropped into the hopper f and it is pushed forward by the ram g; In so doing every ingot in the regenerator is pushed forward, and thus an ingot is pushed out ofthe other end and onto the blooming-mill table. The ingot is then bloomed by means of rolls It. The fourteen-inch-square ingot is then reduced to a seven-inch-square bloom. This bloom is then run through the shears S and the bad end trimmed off. The bloom is then run forward and into roughingrolls U, where it is roughed to the proper The metal is then run forward and intq the rail-rolls Z, and then rolled into the .form of a rail, the rail being ninety-five feet long. It is run forward to the saws o o 0 o and cut into three rails of thirty feet length. These rails are then bent in the usual manner, and

The con-I then pushed into the rail-receiving boiler g at the end m,and by continuing to push fresh hot rails into the boiler it becomes filled. The heat of the rails, while cooling, vaporizes the water, and a large amount of steam is then gener ated. This rail-receiving boiler is a flat structure having an internal flue of about thirtyone feet wide and six inches high, with an outer shell of such dimension as to leave a water-space of threeinches on the bottom and sides and six inches on the top. It is also provided with a steam-drum, safety-valve, and supply-pipe. It is also provided with swinging doors at each end, so arranged as to be au-' torj'natic-to open when the rail is pushed in at one end and pushed out at the other end, and shut when the operation is performed. The boilers should be about one hundred feet long when single rails are rolled and about one hundred and fifty feet long when threelength rails are rolled. When the rail-receiving boiler is filled and a hot rail is pushed in at m a cooled rail will be pushed out at the other end, a. The cool rails are then taken to the press, straightened, and drilled in the usual trails may be drawn out by means of suitable machinery. I

Bythe practice of this invention asdescribed it will be noticed that no use is made of the casting-houses G G G G; but as it is considered a work of necessity to run the blast-furnaces every day, while the converting and finishing departments are only run six days in the week; the furnaces are each provided with a casting-house, so that themetal made on Sunday may be cast into pigs in the usual man ner. The hot rails will be pushed into the boilers ata-temperatureofabout1,000 Fahrenheit, and will pass out of the boilers at about 500 Fahrenheit, so that live hundred units of heat may thus be utilized from each pound,

which will be sufficient to vaporize steam for one horse-power from fifty pounds of rail,wit h ample allowance for loss of heat by radiation.

A plant of the capacity described will produce six hundred net tons of rails per day, and

generate sufficient steam in cooling to furnish one thousand horse-power per day of twentyfour hours.

By the practice of this invention iron and steel maybe manufactured direct from the ore without the use of any other fuel except that need in the blast-furnace, and sufficient steam generated from the cooling slag and metal to propel all the machinery requiredin manipulating the metal into all the forms desirable. The switching-locomotives may even be supplied with steam from slag-oars, so as to dispense with the use of fuel for locomotive purposes.

The advantage of this invention is that it saves the fuel and loss of iron in melting, which amounts to about one dollar and a half per ton. iron in reheating the ingots and blooms, which amounts to about two dollars per ton. -It saves the labor of melting and reheating, which will amount to fully fifty cents per ton, which, together with saving of repairs and cracked rails caused by burning and careless heating, will amount to fully five dollars per ton on the amount of rails produced.

What I claim, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The method herein described of producing blooms directly from the ore, consisting in the following consecutive steps: first, conveying the molten metal directly from the blastfurnace to the converter and the waste gases into and through the blast-ovens; secondly, casting the converter-metal into ingots and passing the same, while the center remains molten, through a soaking-chamber or regenerator to the roughing and blooming rolls; thirdly, subjecting them to the action of the blooming-rolls, and conveying the hot slag from the furnace to the boilers for supplying steam for driving said rolls, whereby the in termediate heating and steam-generating furnaces are dispensed with, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The method herein described of producing rails and like articles directly from the ore, consisting of the following consecutive steps: first, smelting the ore in a blast-fur" nace, conveying the molten metal therefrom directly to the converter and the waste gases into and through the blast-ovens; secondly, casting the converter-metal into ingots and passing the same, while the center is molten, through a regenerator or soaking-chamber to the blooming-rolls, conveying the slag to the boilers which supply steam to drive the rolls; and, finally, passing the ingot successively through the blooming and rail rolls, whereby the continuous working of the metal from the initial step of smelting to the finished rail is It saves the cost of fuel and waste of attained without the usual intervening furnaces for reheating and for generating steam, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. A plant for producing blooms directly from the ore atacontinuous operation, and with the initial heat of the smelting process, consisting of a blast furnace or furnaces and hotblast ovens, a converter or converters and blowing-engines, a regenerator or soakingchamber, blooming-rolls, and boiler and engine for operating the same, said several elements relatively arranged as herein specified, and connected by suitable tracks and conduits, so that the waste gases will be conducted to the blast-ovens and the molten slag may be conveyed to the boilers, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. A plant for producing rails, &c., directly from the ores without other heat than that evolved in the smelting process, consisting of a blast-furnace having suitable hot-blast ovens and conduits for conveying the waste gases thereto, a converter or converters, a regenerator or ingot-soaking chamber, a bloomingmill, with boiler and engine for driving the same, tracks for conveying the hot slag to said boiler, and a rail-mill with rail-receiving boiler and an engine, said elements relatively arranged as specified, and connected by tracks, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. The herein-described improvement in the artof-rollingingotsinto twoorinore rail-lengths without reheating, which consists in cutting off the ragged end of the bloom which has been made from the top of the ingot before it passes into the rail-finishing rolls, whereby a bloom with solid ends may be secured, the collars of the finishing-rolls preserved, and sound rails produced direct from the ingot, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

Witnesses:

WALTER REESE, JAMES H. PORTE.

JACOB REESE. 

